Are people in HK told of the risks involved with the Hepatitis B vaccine?

[HKMum]

One of the ingredients in the vaccine for HepB is a preservative which is banned in many Western countries due to the possible adverse effects in our babies includng Autism.Why are we i HK still using this when we know what could happen?

[shri]

Hiya HKMum,

First of all, welcome aboard. Did some preliminary research on this and have found a couple of things. Please correct me if I'm presenting incorrect information...

-- The preservative in question is Thimerosal. Apparently the risk with this preservative is the fact that it contains mercury.

The FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) has a good article on this.

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm

One of the things they report in their study is..

FDA has been actively addressing the issue of thimerosal as a preservative in vaccines. Under the FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, the FDA conducted a comprehensive review of the use of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Conducted in 1999, this review found no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, other than local hypersensitivity reactions (Ball et al. 2001).

They also however stress caution in the use of Thimerosal when they state

The Committee believed that the effort to remove thimerosal from vaccines was "a prudent measure in support of the public health goal to reduce mercury exposure of infants and children as much as possible." Furthermore, in this regard, the Committee urged that "full consideration be given to removing thimerosal from any biological product to which infants, children, and pregnant women are exposed."

From the CDC (center for disease control) website I gathered that there is a vaccine thats been in use since 1999 (FDA approved) which does not contain the preservative.

Check this out.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4835a3.htm

Would be worth your while checking with the doctor to see if the vaccine he/she is using contains Thimersol or not. There is an alternative .. and that might be the one being used by your doctor.

I'm not sure what the Hong Kong Govt uses in the local Hospitals. I'll send them an email and find out. :)

[shri]

Searched around a little bit and found this document, which is the official stance on Hepatitis vaccines by the HK Govt.

According to them the levels of mercury are insignificant and do not warrent a change...

Their main site is on http://www.info.gov.hk/hepatitis/einside.htm

and hepatitis specific resources are on

http://www.info.gov.hk/hepatitis/guildlineslist.htm